Extracorporeal removal of soluble tumor necrosis factor receptors for the treatment of advanced refractory solid tumors.

Authors

null

Victoria G. Manax

Immunicom, Inc., San Diego, CA

Victoria G. Manax , Yochai Wolf , Gal Markel , Lawrence Florin , Adam Ostrowski , Kamel Djazouli , Ronnie Shapira-Frommer , Nethanel Asher , Ayala Tamir , Shai Kilim , Tomer Meirson , Assaf Debby , Amir Grau , Robert Segal , Annette Marleau

Organizations

Immunicom, Inc., San Diego, CA, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel, Rabin Medical Center, Petah Tikva, Israel, Immunicom, San Diego, CA, Ella Lemelbaum Institute for Immuno Oncology, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel, Ella Lemelbaum Institute for Immuno Oncology and Melanoma, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat-Gan, Israel, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Tel Aviv, Israel, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel, Immunicom Inc., Gwynedd Valley, PA

Research Funding

Pharmaceutical/Biotech Company
Immunicom, Inc.

Background: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF) has well-established anti-tumor effects including cytotoxicity against tumor vasculature. Past use of recombinant TNF to treat solid tumors resulted in unacceptable toxicities when given systemically but is successfully used in localized limb perfusion to treat melanoma and sarcomas. An alternative to promote endogenous TNF-mediated anticancer activity involves therapeutic apheresis to reduce the high concentrations of soluble TNF receptors (sTNF-Rs) produced by tumors, which sequester TNF and inhibit its tumoricidal effects. Methods: The LW-02 Column contains recombinant single-chain TNF, a capture ligand that selectively removes sTNF-Rs from plasma, covalently linked to a bead matrix. LW-02 Column Immunopheresis was evaluated in heavily pretreated patients with metastatic melanoma, renal cell carcinoma or triple negative breast cancer [NCT04142931]. LW-02 Column Immunopheresis was performed 3x/week, processing up to two plasma volumes for approximately 12 weeks as monotherapy (Cohort A, n = 6) or combined with nivolumab (Cohort B, n = 5). The study evaluated column performance, safety, clinical efficacy, and immunological biomarkers in the tumor microenvironment and blood. Results: The LW-02 Column effectively reduced sTNF-R plasma concentrations with capture efficiencies of 95.6% and 82.8% for sTNF-R1 and sTNF-R2, respectively, at the 30-minute procedural time point. At the data cut-off (Sept 30, 2022), median overall survival (OS) was 34.7 and 44.4 weeks for all patients (n = 11) and patients treated for ≥4 weeks (n = 8) (the latter group was prespecified in the protocol), respectively. For Cohorts A and B, median OS was 34.7 weeks and 45.4 weeks, respectively, for patients treated for ≥4 weeks. Evaluation of safety showed that only 2 adverse events (AEs) of 95 total AEs (including 7 SAEs) were deemed possibly related to LW-02 Column treatment. Immunohistochemical evaluation of tumor biopsies obtained 10-14 weeks after initiating LW-02 Column Immunopheresis revealed increased tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (CD8+, HLA-DR+, and/or PD-1+ cells; 5/5 patients examined), and a reduced presence of tumor-associated macrophages (CD68+; 4/5 patients) compared to pretreatment biopsies. Preliminary immune profiling of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (5 patients) revealed increased expression levels of transmembrane TNF-R1 and TNF-R2, suggestive of increased cellular TNF responsiveness, and increased expression of activation molecules HLA-DR and CD86 after 4 weeks of LW-02 Column monotherapy compared to pretreatment levels. Conclusions: LW-02 Column Immunopheresis achieved safe and effective depletion of sTNF-Rs from plasma of patients with solid tumors. Further studies will assess the clinical benefit profile of the LW-02 Column for resensitizing tumors to respond to immunotherapy. Clinical trial information: NCT04142931.

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Abstract Details

Meeting

2023 ASCO Annual Meeting

Session Type

Publication Only

Session Title

Publication Only: Developmental Therapeutics—Immunotherapy

Track

Developmental Therapeutics—Immunotherapy

Sub Track

New Targets and New Technologies (IO)

Clinical Trial Registration Number

NCT04142931

Citation

J Clin Oncol 41, 2023 (suppl 16; abstr e14593)

DOI

10.1200/JCO.2023.41.16_suppl.e14593

Abstract #

e14593

Abstract Disclosures